Crimea Province

Crimea Province was a province of the Russian Empire during the 19th century, with its capital at Simferopol. The province included not just the Crimean peninsula, but also parts of southeastern Ukraine; its major settlements included Simferopol, Kerch, Sevastopol, Ekaterinoslav, Melitopol, and Mariupol. In 1862, the Crimea had a population of 364,220 people, with 43.2% being Ukrainians, 40.1% Russians, 10.7% Tatars, 2.6% others, 1.7% Greeks, and 1.7% Ashkenazim; religiously, 85.1% followed Orthodox Christianity, 10.7% Sunni Islam, 1.7% Judaism, 1.5% Catholicism, and 1.1% Protestantism. The Crimean peninsula itself had a Tatar majority, but the regions of southern Ukraine had Ukrainian and Russian majorities. Ethnic tensions boiled between the Slavs and the Tatars, whose agitation for independence was often met with violent crackdowns.